Abstract

Living work of art, consumer commodity, scientific hero and environmentalmenace: the humble goldfish is the ultimate human cultural artefact.A creature of supposedly little memory and short lifespan, it has universalappeal. In ancient China, goldfish were saved from predators in acts ofreligious reverence and selectively bred for their glittering grace. In theEast, they became the subject of exquisite art, regarded as living flowersthat moved, while in the West, they became ubiquitous residents of theVictorian parlour. Cheap and eminently available, today they are bredby the millions for the growing domestic pet market, while also proving tobe important to laboratory studies of perception, vision and intelligence.In this illuminating homage to the goldfish, Anna Marie Roos challengesthe cultural preconceptions of a creature often thought to be commonand disposable, as she blends art and science to trace the surprising andintriguing history of this much-loved animal.